


Keep Me Company?

by riddlerhymes



Category: Half Life VR But The AI Is Self Aware, Half-Life
Genre: Almost Kiss, Dreams, M/M, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-25
Updated: 2020-05-25
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:41:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24365239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/riddlerhymes/pseuds/riddlerhymes
Summary: tommy's on watch duty for the night, benrey sits with him.
Relationships: Benrey & Tommy Coolatta, Benrey/Tommy Coolatta
Comments: 7
Kudos: 164





	Keep Me Company?

**Author's Note:**

> wrote this at like 2 AM while sloshed & just finished tryina quick-edit it so its most likely, sloppy story-wise.......... my apologies in advanced

tommy'd offered to take up the watch shift this time. he wasn't tired, anyways.

the team had taken a rest in a control room, full of buttons and levers just begging to be played with. he didn't touch them, not while everyone else was trying to recharge for the next several-hour interval of their journey. he might press something before they leave, but not while they were still there.

as much as he wished he could just sleep for a while, tommy knew he couldn't. all the adrenaline from their trek through the facility, along with stress he'd been pushing down, just wouldn't allow him to do anything but sit awake while everyone else rested up. it was better that way, anyways. he wasn't the vulnerable one in that situation.

benrey never seemed to sleep, but half the time he wasn't around anyways, so tommy was left staring blankly at the control panel across the room from where he sat. no action or conversation to distract him allowed his thoughts to wander here and there, jumping back and forth between however many subjects.. he couldn't keep track. thoughts about what information they had on these new alien creatures, what they were to do after escaping, if the team was gonna separate after this or if they would stick together..... if any of them _survived_ this.

the last two thoughts scared tommy quite a bit. death was a hard subject for him, on par with being alone, and he didn't want his friends to leave after this.... maybe they'd stick together if it was like this on the outside? maybe they'd be able to stay a unit, and protect each other against those creatures? that would be nice.

maybe they'd get closer if they stayed a unit on the outside of the facility, maybe they'd be real tight-knit... like a family or something. that would be even nicer.

the thoughts were dispersed from tommy's head when benrey, suddenly next to him, shook his shoulder a bit to grab his attention.

"you there?? where you at ducky, dreamland?" the nickname made tommy smile a little while he tried to find his voice for a response.

"i--i was just thinking, sorry. what's... what's up?" it took him a moment to get his words out, but benrey was patient with him, as he always was.

"thought you might want some company on guard duty, we could talk about stuff," the 'guard' sat in front of tommy, cross-legged, "what's on your mind, or whatever. doesn't matter."

of course, tommy was always happy to have benrey's company. they were friends, after all, pretty close friends. maybe a little closer than most friends, but sometimes that's just how things ended up, right?

"are there any-- um, any games you want to get a-and play when we, get out of here?" tommy knew this would send his friend on a tangent about his special interest in video games, his smile consistent through his question. he loved hearing how passionate benrey was about the games he liked. it was sweet... cute, even.

and, of course, the guard went on his own little tangent about whatever playstation games he could think of-- which, included a lot more than tommy even knew existed... he'd taken mental note of their names to research later so he could hold a better conversation with benrey about the plots and gameplay.

 _'cute'_ was all tommy could really think while listening to his friend's rambling. well, no, that wasn't true. he could think of plenty of other things, specifically to describe how he felt hearing his best friend describing the things he loved.

_enthralled, fascinated, captivated, delighted, entranced, charmed, enamored..... i could listen to him for hours._

"what?" benrey's infodumping had halted completely, and tommy realized...

he must have said that last thought out loud.

he couldn't find his voice this time, staying silent, desperately scanning his thoughts for something, anything to say to fix his slip-up... but nothing came to him. he was stuck there, staring at his friend.

"hey-- you okay, tommy? it's okay man, it's okay." a hand on his shoulder caught his attention. tommy finally blinked, bringing himself out of his trance, gaze shooting between benrey's hand and his eyes. it felt like those eyes were burning a hole straight through him.

"you're thinkin' too much, man, it's okay. breathe... you need to talk about it?"

tommy didn't know if he _could_ talk about it. the thought really came out of nowhere, he'd never thought anything like that about his friend before.... maybe the whole 'apocalyptic disaster' thing was making his perspective on things shift? 

or maybe it was just making him notice what was already there.

"ii......... don't know............" he needed a minute to think, hopefully that would buy him the time he needed.

it seemed to work. benrey's hand dropped down to his lap as he waited, patient as he always was with tommy.... his rarely-seen smile being flashed to tommy, making him lose progress with his thoughts. _why now, of all times? stop trying to be reassuring, i'm trying to think._

"i thhhink, uh, this whole thing is making me change the _way_ i think.. or maybe i-it, it's just making me uh, making me notice what i _normally_ think? what i think, but, don't notice..........." god, he hoped that made sense. even if it didn't, he hoped benrey knew what he meant.

they were friends long enough, he could count on benrey to understand what he meant even _if_ it was utter nonsense... fortunately. 

"that's something. you have any hypotheses, science guy?" somehow he sounded cocky, despite keeping the same flat tone in his voice. maybe it was the way he cocked his eyebrow with the question.

tommy could feel the warmth in his face, and thanked his lucky stars he had a naturally pink-tinted face already that would make the blush look normal. it was always hard to tell when benrey was serious or joking, especially with stuff like this.... 'flirting', fake or real, tommy always assumed it to be joking. 

given the situation, though, it only made it harder to differentiate.

"no......" tommy figured he'd keep his tone vague, just in case. "buh-- but i have, theories."

"what good's a theory without testing it? that's your job, right, proving theories right or wrong?" the guard said it so matter-of-factly, tommy wished he'd just laugh already so he could stop being so tense, stop thinking about what to do next and just relax.

but there wasn't a laugh. and it wasn't a joke, he slowly realized. he needed to figure out what to do next.

"suggestions are welcome." that's all tommy could think of. actions would've been too much for him to think of, and instinct seemed to be failing him on this front. he truly hoped benrey could do something so _he_ wouldn't have to.

somehow, though, when the guard moved closer, it did nothing to ease the scientist's mind, in fact, it seemed like the playback speed in his mind increased and his thoughts were racing faster now. he felt like things were moving fast, but he couldn't tell if they really were... _'caffeine overdose'_ flashed through his mind. maybe he was just overthinking. maybe he should just relax...

before he knew it, his best friend was so wildly close that tommy could feel the heat of his face, see all the little creases and blemishes you'd have to really squint to see...... all the charming little imperfections littering the pale face, dangerously close to his own. it felt like his heart could beat right out of his chest.

"tommy?" 

_what? just get **on** with it already._

"tommy. tommy, hey."

there was a pressure on his arm, and suddenly his eyes were flicking open as he was shaken awake. 

"you fell asleep on your guard shift, bro. if you're that tired, i can take over for you." it was.... benrey? he was standing over tommy, kneeling down a little to shake him awake and talk to him.. definitely not where he was just a moment ago.

frankly, he wished he hadn't been woken up. at least, for a few more minutes.

"hm? oh, i...... i'm okay now, benrey. just got bored, i think...."

benrey let go of his shoulder and stood upright again, probably ready to wander off on his own, as per usual. 

"but, um, keep me company...? so i can stay awake?"


End file.
